Keegan: Barmann saves KU’s day

Adam Barmann stepped out of all Kansas University football fans’ nightmares and saved a football season Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

Giving him any less credit than that wouldn’t be doing justice to the way he managed the offense in a 13-7 victory over South Florida.

There should be no questioning of offensive coordinator Nick Quartaro’s smart play-calling. It suited Barmann perfectly: short passes and a heavy reliance on explosive, determined Jon Cornish.

Barmann completed 25 of 35 passes for 273 yards and did not throw an interception. As surprising as those numbers was what else Barmann did. From out of nowhere, he created a quarterback controversy, even if he won’t get anywhere near it.

“I don’t think there’s any controversy whatsoever,” Barmann said. “I think when Kerry’s healthy, he’s our guy, and I just came in and tried to do the best job I could while he’s absent.”

Kerry Meier’s arm injury leaves Mangino with a perfect means of diffusing the issue. If Mangino feels like riding the wave Barmann created Saturday, he need only say that Meier isn’t fully recovered. Bingo, there goes the controversy.

Believe it or not, though, in the 14th start of a shaky career, Barmann ensured that who’s starting at quarterback is worthy of debate, at least temporarily. He was that good, that in command.

“It’s going to be hard to ignore what Adam Barmann did tonight,” Mangino said. “Kerry’s going to have to be 100 percent. He’s got to be pain-free for me to put him out there. If he’s in any pain, he’s not going to play. I’m not going to do that.”

As Mangino showed again throughout the week, he likes to keep the public and the opposition guessing. He guarded his starting quarterback situation with typical gravity. He said he knew by Thursday that Meier wouldn’t be able to go.

Mangino is intentionally difficult to read. Yet, something in the way he talked about Barmann, and always has talked about him after his good performances and dreadful ones, left the impression the coach believes the senior quarterback from Weston, Mo., earned one more start with his performance.

“There’s something about that kid that I like,” Mangino said. “I have faith in him.”

Technically, Barmann is a four-year starter in that he has started games in each of his four seasons. He started just two games last season and looked very much like a quarterback who needed relief from the pressure of the starting assignment.

He isn’t the talent Meier is. He doesn’t run nearly as well and doesn’t have as strong an arm. Meier is more versatile and therefore more difficult to game-plan against, but as Mangino said, it’s tough to ignore what Barmann did in preventing the Jayhawks from falling to 2-2 against the softest third of their schedule.

The best solution: Start Barmann on Saturday in Lincoln, a hornet’s nest of a game that features a more talented Nebraska team and a crowd eager to see the Cornhuskers exact revenge for what happened at Memorial Stadium last season. If healthy, Meier can watch, learn, and, if needed, play against the sort of competition he hasn’t yet faced, then reclaim his job a week later.